Mill Valley Film Festival

Oct. 6-16, various North Bay venues

NOW IN ITS 28th year, the Mill Valley Film Festival has settled into a reliable mix of Hollywood, foreign, and indie flicks geared toward everyone from Desperate Housewives fans (there's a Felicity Huffman tribute) to kids with a taste for international cinema (see: the Children's FilmFest) to jam banders (thanks to the doc Press On, which plays in conjunction with a live performance by Robert Randolph and the Family Band). While it's tempting to get an early peek at highly anticipated films opening theatrically later this fall (North Country, Shopgirl, Pride and Prejudice), your Mill Valley experience should also include movies you'll have a hard time seeing anyplace else. There are plenty of intriguing documentaries: Frozen Angels looks through the lens of Los Angeles at "designer babies," following a heavily pregnant surrogate mother as well as a "trophy donor" – an egg donor who possesses the prized traits of blond hair and blue eyes. Troop 1500 is a tear-jerking look at a group of Girl Scouts whose mothers are all in prison, while The Bridge So Far: A Suspense Story engages engineers, politicians, and local comedians in its exploration of the tumultuous (and apparently never-ending) construction work on the Bay Bridge. On the narrative front, The Milk Can brings the Civil War to Humboldt County via an annual small-town football game that explodes into actual warfare. Writer-director and NorCal native Matt Kresling – whose previous works include a series of shorts titled "If the Bush Administration Was Your Roommate" – infuses what could've been a too-earnest political allegory with inspired energy, deadpan humor, and clever details, including a snare-heavy marching band score. See Film listings or go to www.mvff.com for venue, ticket, and schedule information. (Cheryl Eddy)